The impact of interaction on EFL learning motivation: A Chinese case study

There are abundant studies on dyadic interaction between English first language (L1) speakers and English learners. While most studies are concerned about task-based interaction between newly formed dyads and examine the role of interaction in second language acquisition, there seems to insufficient longitudinal research on the construction of learners’ identity in systematic interactions in an out-of-class context. Adopting the framework of critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 2003) and also informed by discourse theory (Laclau & Mouffe, 1985; Philips & Jogensen, 2002), this paper explored the how college English learners’ identities were discursively constructed in interactions and how identity and learners’ language use were mutually constituted. Learners’ identity was found to be constructed through their discursive strategies of establishing oppositions and differences. This paper started with discussing the constructs that guided the study and then provided an interpretation of the texts from interactions, interviews and diary studies in light of the sociocultural context where the interactions happened.